D-handle.



No. 7l0,389.

V Patented Sept. 30, I902. T. w. WRIGHT.

D H A N D L E (Application filed. Nov. 11, 1901.)

(No Model.)

z WLTN ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATE Fries.

THOMAS W. IVRIGHT, OF:- ANDERSON, INDIANA.

D-HANDLEI' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 710,389, dated September 30, 1902.

Application filed November 11,1901. Serial No. 81,806. (No modeli To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS W. WRIGHT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Anderson, in the county of Madison and State of Indiana have invented a new and usefulD- and a separate stem portion, which are so formed that they eanbe rigidly secured'together without the aid of any extraneous means, the object of the invention being to form the D portion of one piece of wood and the stem portion of another piece of wood,each portion being formed entirely independent of the other and without regard to the grain of the wood, each piece being so formed that the meeting-point will snugly fit the meetingpoint of the other piece, so that when the two pieces are united they will be firmly held together, owing to the intermeshing formation of the meeting-points of each piece.

Another object is to provide a strong joint between the D, which is necessarily thin and fiat, and the stem, which is necessarily round and of a diameter substantially the same as the thickness of the D, and also a joint wherein the stem will not break and the D not split.

These and other objects not hereinbefore mentioned are accomplished by the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a D-handle and stem, showing the securing means between the same in vertical section. Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 isa section on the line 3 3, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the upper portion of the stem. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6 6, Fig. l; and Fig.

.7 is a side elevation of the D and upper portion of the stem assembled.

In the drawings, Adesignates the D-handle portion of ordinary shape, but formed of a difierent piece of wood than the stem, and B designates the stem. Adjacent to the upper end of the stem the stem is slightly reduced, forming a tenon O. Extending from the end of the tenon and forming the end of the stem are twodowels D. These dowels are rounded and are entirely separate, leaving a space D between them, shown in Fig. 5. The diameters of the dowels are considerably smaller than the diameter'ofthe tenon, as plainly shown in Fig. 4c. The upper end of the stem, where it terminates and the tenon commences, forms a shoulder B, and the outer end of the tenon forms a shoulder C where it terminates and the dowels commence.

The lower portion of the D is provided with a straight longitudinal opening F, which extends up into the D a suflicient length to correspond with the length of the tenon C. The terminating point of this opening forms a shoulder F. Extending farther inwardly into the D are two smaller openings G G. These openings are straight, but are inclined and extend in opposite directions and are of the same length as the length of the dowels D. Inasmuch as these openings extend at an angle from the opening F the portion left between the same will form a wedge H, with a sharp edge H at its lower end. These openings are disposed vertically in relation to the vertical plane of the D. In forming these openings in the D the straight vertical portion F is first bored out and then a boringtool is inserted in the opening at the proper angle to form the inclined openings G G. As the vertical opening F is substantially quadruple the size of the openings G G, there will be plenty of room to insert the smaller boring-tool at the proper angle to form these smaller openings. In this arrangement of the openings it only takes three operations to form the same, one to form the vertical opening and one each to form the two inclined openings.

In assembling the parts together the dowels D are inserted into the inclined openings G G, and the tenon C will fit in the vertical opening F. The dowels will be spread apart by the wedge portion II, so that the stem and D will be firmly held together. In the manufacture of these handles I intend to make the openings G G of the proper size so that the dowels will fit snugly therein andalso form the opening F so that the tenon will snugly fit therein. If there should be any shrinkage owing to improper seasoning of the wood, the

two dowels being forced apart by the wedge will have a spring action and will still firmly bear against the sides of the wedge portion evenifthere wereconsiderahle shrinkage. After the parts are assembled the shoulder 13 will bear against the lower edge of the D, forming a neat joint between the parts, as shown in Fig. 7. This shoulder B, in connection with the shoulders O and F, will prevent the stem from being forced too far into the D.

Owing to the fact that in the construction of these handles it is not intended to vary the shape in any manner from the handles made of one piece the diameter of the stem will be the same as the thickness of the D proper, as shown in Fig. 7. For that reason it is necessary to form the tenon C on the end of the stem, so that it can be inserted into the D. The dowels are made smaller than the tenons, so that they will readily yield when being forced apart and when being inserted into the inclined openings G G. By referring to Figs. 3 and 6 it will be seen that the lower edge of the D surrounds the tenon O and that the tenon tightly fits therein. By this construction astrongjoint is formed between the stem and D. If the tenon were of the same size as the dowels, it would make thejoint too weak and would not stand the wear and tear which this class of handles are subjected to, and, on the other hand, were the dowels the same size as the tenon they would not readily yield when being spread apartand would have a tendency to crack the D when being forced into the inclined openings. Another very important feature of forming the stem with a tenon and having the same surrounded by theloweredge of the D is that the D,tightly fitting the tenon, will prevent the stem from splitting after the dowels have been spread apart. If it were not for this construction the stem would have a tendency to split, so that the completed handle would soon be rendered useless. From this it will be seen that the tenon is very essential'first, that it allows the stem to be inserted into the D; secondly,thatitmakesastrongjoint,and,thirdly, that it prevents the stem from splitting.

The idea of forming the D and stem in two pieces I regard as very important. At the present time wood is very scarce and hard to obtain, and owing to the peculiar shape of the handles when they were made on one piece there was a great waste of material. Another objection to making the handle of one piece of wood is that the grain of the wood comes at various angles, making the finished handles difficult to bend into the necessary shape to he used with shovels, forks, and articles of like character. By this construction the stem can be always formed with the grain arranged longitudinally, as shown in the drawings, thereby greatly strengthening the stem and allowing it to be easily bent. By having the grain arranged longitudinally the dowels can be more easily formed and will not break or crack when being forced apart. Another important object in forming the handle of two parts is that an inferior D and an inferior stern can be united and the whole sold as second-class quality and all the perfect Us and stems can be united and sold as first-class. When the handles were made of one piece, there might have been a defect in either the D or stem and the whole article would have to be sold as second-class quality, thereby wasting a quantity of good material.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A D-handle formed in two pieces, the D proper being provided in its lower portion with a longitudinal opening andtwo smaller openings extending inwardly from the longitudinal opening, the smaller openings being inclined .and extending at opposite angles from the longitudinal opening, and a stem provided with a reduced portion forming a tenon adjacent to its upper end and of a size to snugly fit the longitudinal opening when inserted therein, the tenon forming a shoulder on the stem, the lower edge of the D surrounding the tenon, and the shoulder bearing against the bottom of the D and two further reduced portions forming dowels extending from the tenon forming the upper end of the stem, each dowel having a smaller diameter than the tenon and being of a size to snugly fit the inclined openings when inserted therein.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS W. WRIGHT.

Witnesses:

O. G. PAVEY, G. W. WRIGHT. 

